CROSS-COUNTRY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JUNIOR COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Harvey, Padilla Step Into Co-Favorite Role

As recently as three weeks ago, Jean Harvey of Antelope Valley College and Grace Padilla of Glendale were considered outsiders looking in when talk turned to who was favored to win the state junior college women’s cross-country title.

But when the Southern California cross-country championships are held at Morley Field in San Diego’s Balboa Park this morning, Harvey and Padilla will be regarded as co-favorites.

The winner will become the favorite in next week’s state meet in Rocklin (20 miles northeast of Sacramento), but if not for a surprise withdrawal, the pair would be entering the regionals as underdogs.

Harvey and Padilla are coming off notable track and field seasons, and Harvey placed seventh in last year’s state cross-country meet. However, Tracy Rose of Long Beach City College had better credentials than either of them and was favored to win the state meet until two weeks ago when she decided to bypass the South Coast Conference championships.

The decision took Rose out of the running for the state title because the conference championships serve as qualifying meets for regionals. Harvey and Padilla were therefore propelled to the forefront.

“I just had too many other things going on,” said Rose, 28. “I’m married and I have a daughter, and I got sick right in the middle of the season, which really hurt my training. With all my family obligations and running and school, there was just too much to do and not enough time to do it in.”

Rose was a 10-time NCAA Division II All-American swimmer for Cal State Northridge from 1983-85 when she competed as Tracy McCluskey. She started running after graduating from Northridge, then decided to compete for Long Beach when she discovered that California rules allow an athlete to retain eligibility in junior college sports in which they did not compete while at a four-year university or at the college level.

Rose finished third in last year’s state cross-country meet and won the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in the state track championships in May.

When she won the season-opening San Diego Mesa invitational at Morley Field in September--defeating Harvey (second) and Padilla (fourth)--it gave credence to her top billing. “I had planned to be there,” Rose said of regionals. “But too many other things came up.”

Rose’s absence not only altered the favorite’s role, it could alter how the 5,000-meter race is run. With Rose present, Harvey could have counted on her setting a strong steady pace from the outset.

But with Rose out, Harvey must contend with the unpredictable tactics of Padilla, who could either push the pace from the start--forcing Harvey to play catch-up--or sit back and try to win by outkicking her opponents in the final 300 or 400 meters. If Padilla does the latter, the slower Harvey will have to push the pace either from the start or during the middle of the race.

“It does make things less predictable with Tracy gone,” said Harvey, who placed second in the 5,000 and fourth in the 3,000 in the state track championships. “You knew what to expect from Tracy. You don’t with Gracie.”

Antelope Valley Coach Mark Covert fears that if Padilla pushes the pace from the start, as she did in winning the Mt. San Antonio College invitational last month, she might get so far ahead of Harvey and the rest of the field that they won’t be able to catch her, even if she falters in the final mile.

“If Grace pushes the pace from the start, she is going to slow down eventually,” Covert said. “There is no way she can maintain the pace she goes out at when she does that. But you don’t want to let her get so far ahead that when she slows down you can’t take advantage of it. You have to be close enough to catch her when she gets tired.”

Padilla’s front-running tactics appeared to backfire at the Mt. SAC meet when Suzanne Castruita of the host school passed her with a half-mile left in the three-mile race. But Padilla pulled away from her rival in the final 600 yards by tapping into some of the speed that helped her finish third in the 1,500 meters in the state meet.

The question is whether she will be able to respond in the same manner against Harvey, Castruita and Co. today.